The Art

We would like to thank artist Greg A. Dunn, a neuroscientist, artist, and friend of the CNBC. In 2010 Greg was commissioned by the CNBC to create a series of neurally-inspired images for display in the CNBC. The complete commission of nine works may be seen in the CNBC 15th anniversary commemorative poster. Greg also creates a unique image to commemorate the annual recipient of the Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain. Each original artwork is based on an image from the research of the prize winner. Most recently, Greg collaborated with several CMU researchers in creating a  permanent, large-scale brain image for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The brain art images used on our website are drawn from these commissions. Because it is not always easy to keep the full image including credits on the screen, the above slide show is displaying the images of Greg’s art in their entirety so they can be fully appreciated.

The Artist

I enjoy Asian art. I particularly love minimalist scroll and screen painting from the Edo period in Japan. I am also a fan of neuroscience. Therefore, it was a fine day when two of my passions came together upon the realization that the elegant forms of neurons (the cells that comprise your brain) can be painted expressively in the Asian sumi-e style. Neurons may be tiny in scale, but they posess the same beauty seen in traditional forms of the medium (trees, flowers, and animals).

I admire the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean masters because of their confidence in simplicity. I try to emulate this idea.

In October 2011 I finished my doctorate in Neuroscience at University of Pennsylvania. Since then I have been devoting my time to painting. When I’m not doing this I’m enjoying reading scientific papers, playing music and watching “How Its Made”.

You can find more details about the artist and the art, at http://www.gregadunn.com/